Valse Triste
by Thaliendris
Summary: Follows the teaser of Zoe/Julia. Spoilers for the Season 3 Finale.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is based off of the preview from the season finale of season three. The preview is the confrontation of Julia and Zoe. Taking my own spin on things.

Valse Triste, Chapter 1

The first thing she notices is the tired expression that she has on her face. The second thing she notices is that despite the heartbreak, she cannot hate this girl... This sarcastic, bright, beautiful girl... no, woman that stood in front of her. A billion questions rise within, and it feels like she's about to explode, but she quells herself, waiting for Zoe to say something, anything.

"Is that your mom?" Ice breaker. Something, anything, to break the mind-numbing silence.

Zoe looks back at the vehicle carrying her precious cargo, slightly nervous about coming face to face with someone that she loves, and betrayed. A weak smile, "Yeah..."

She bites her lip, trying to hold back from unleashing herself onto Zoe. A torrent - a violent hurricane of emotions threaten to overcome her. "That's good..." Tears threaten to fall, so she looks down for a moment, trying to keep her composure. "She's helping."

She asks the next big question. "Troy?"

"No Troy..." Julia can't help but let out a small sigh of relief. At least that bastard is out of the little boy's life.

"Good." She doesn't know what else to say, trying to hold back from yelling at her, trying to hold back from hugging her to death, being a parent to her. She makes a motion to speak -

"I didn't know..." Julia sees the tears forming in Zoe's eyes. "I... swear to you, I didn't even know until he was born." Her voice breaks a little, and Julia's heart yearns to comfort her, but then again, she did take away who was supposed to be her son. "I'm... so sorry." Zoe's small voice breaks, her voice flooded with emotions"

Julia swallows, trying to regain her composure. "How is he?" Asking because of concern first, curiosity second, and courtesy third.

She whispers back, "He's beautiful..." Her heart breaks, begging to hold him once more, begging for a chance to be his mother, just begging for someone to fill that void. Tears form in her eyes, but she tries her damn hardest not to show how much this hurts to Zoe.

"Julia... You've changed my life." voice crack, tears streaming down her face. Regardless of the situation, she still feels the deep, kindred love she has for this new mother - but she cannot forgive her for the heartbreak that she caused this family.

Wordlessly, she gives the watch back to her, one last memento, and pivots back into the house, wiping the tears left astray, and her fragile heart breaks once again. She runs to what was supposed to be his room, and she grabs the giraffe as she sobs once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Valse Triste, Chapter 2

She grabs her cell phone, and she sees the notification. A text message from her. She opens it to see a picture of him. She smiles briefly, noticing the similarities that mother and child had. She hears someone downstairs, talking to her husband, and somehow, Sarah appears in her doorway the next moment, looking utterly ridiculous in a hoodie, themed like a shark, with bright pink pajama bottoms with some writing on the butt. She can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of her sister's outfit.

"What - I accidentally grabbed Amber's laundry when I decided that we needed some quality sister time. Now scootch over, Julia. I got a Pint of Chunky Monkey, two spoons, some wine, and a few kickass DVDs."

"But I work tomorrow!"

She looks at her little sister, with her puffy eyes and that heartbroken expression. "No, you aren't, sis. You're gonna come down with the flu, magically and you're gonna take this time to grieve."

Sarah hops out for a moment to put in one of the first comedies of the night, then comes back into bed with Julia, with her holding the ice cream, and Sarah holding her closely. They watch, and laugh at the appropriate moments - Julia forced, Sarah looking at her little sister in concern. She kisses the top of the blonde's head, to somehow channel the spirit of their mother, and her comforting touch. "Look, babe... I know it's been really rough, this past year. Kristina and Adam with Norah, now me having the baby talk with Mark... You have no idea how sorry I am for you."

What seemed like the never ending faucet of tears turned on again. "I invested so much of my time on her! It's not fair that she decided at the last minute to keep him! We paid for everything for her! Her and the baby! It's... not... fair..." she starts sobbing once more, Sarah rubbing her back, trying to comfort her broken hearted little sister. They were never really close, though. She and Adam were much more alike in nature, reserved, shy, and overachieving. When she was dumped by her first boyfriend, it was Adam she ran off to. Granted, when she confessed to wanting to try sex with her boyfriend at the time, she was the one who bailed Adam out with the talk about condoms, and filling in the awkward pauses while using a banana as a prop to explain to Julia how to place things.

Now, Crosby? They shared the same wild and eccentric nature, sharing weed and booze, and having the unspoken rule about not talking to each other at the bar, so if one needed to bail, the other could pretend to escort the other out. She felt hopeless - after all, as a big sister, isn't it her duty to shield her little sister?

"Shh... it's okay..." Murmurs of comfort, right hand rubbing her crying sister's shoulder gently. She noticed Joel trying to sneak a peek into their bedroom, but hearing Julia's sobbing, and the glare that she had, he wisely chose to sneak back out. A moment's reprieve, as her ringtone sets off a notification... from Joel, leaving a small note saying that they went over to Adam's house so that Sydney didn't have to hear her mother's heartbreak. Good choice, she thinks to herself - Adam won't probe unnecessarily. Kristina, however, may be a problem. She loves her sister in law, but she was like a bloodhound once she finds out that she doesn't have the latest information within the Braverman clan.

She feels Julia's sobs weaken as her exhaustion overcame her, and she gently rocks her baby sister to sleep. Julia mutters softly, "Never let me go... please, don't go..."

"Never will I ever leave you, hon." She reassures her gently, as her arms envelop the younger sister, as she drifts off to sleep. Sarah grabs her phone to shoot off a small text, suggesting that Joel should stay the night at Adam's, until Julia was under control. She nuzzles her little sister, and she falls asleep, being the sentinel that a big sister should be.


	3. Chapter 3

Valse Triste, Chapter 3

She wakes up to the smell of bacon, a lonely bed, and a hangover. She rushes to the bathroom to empty out yesterday's Chunky Monkey and wine, then brushes her teeth. A quick knock and Sarah bursts into the bathroom, out of concern, and she kisses the top of Julia's ratty blonde hair.

"Sis, you should shower then come down to eat. Syd's off to school and Joel's helping Crosby with the wedding preparations. We have the day to ourselves, hon."

She vaguely nods, still in the hangover-and-sleepy stupor, as she undresses to hop into the shower to clear her mind, hopefully.

She comes downstairs to a suspicious aroma of burnt food. Sarah grins at her, being caked in flour. "I made you peanut butter pancakes with a chocolate chip smile in it, like how you used to always insist on Ma how to make it." She tries her hardest to hold it, but starts laughing at how ridiculous her sister looks. Sarah pouts, then mentions," I burned the first few batches, but I managed to get some that weren't burnt. And stop laughing! Now I need to shower! "

"Thanks, sis. I'll happily eat it." She smiles, then goes over to fill her mug, then on second thought, gets another one for her sister. Sarah snatches the second mug, then they walk over to the table and eat the breakfast that Sarah prepared.

"So…" Sarah started slowly. Julia glances at her sister, a piece of pancake halfway to her mouth, and then responds with her mouth still partially full. "Yeah?"

"Eww, gross, Julia. Say it, don't spray it!" She swallows what was in her mouth, and then sets the fork down. "Yes, what is your question, sister that I love and adore?"

"Are you okay if we bring the sister in laws along for the dress shopping, or would you prefer just the two of us? I think Amber also wants to come shopping for the wedding, but if you want, we can blow them off and just go by our-"

"Of course, we all can go. Then we can have lunch someplace fancy, and bond with Jasmine… after all, we need to brace her against Crosby, for her sake." She finishes the statement with a smile, then eats the last piece of the pancake. "Thanks for breakfast, sis. I guess… I'll go get ready."

"Wait – I need to go back to Ma's place and get my clothes… will you be fine waiting, and seeing the Interrogation Squad? Or I can borrow something of yours…" Julia's expression is unreadable. "Look, just humour your big sister – she loves you and she's worried about you… and she loves you." Sarah grabs their plates and sets it in the sink, letting them soak for a bit prior to washing.

"I'm not ready yet for the full Braverman clan to question me, even though they probably bombarded Joel with questions." Julia's solemn expression and her normally sparkling blue eyes are muted.

"Okay… and oh, I can ask Amber to bring some stuff over." Sarah quickly sends off a text message to Amber, asking for some spare clothes. "Now hurry up and get ready. Hustle!" She playfully whacks Julia on the butt to get her to move.

Amber arrives with a small duffel bag, armed with something that looks like what she would be wearing, not what Sarah usually wears.

"Oh, come on mom. Just try it on, please?"

Sarah sighs, then goes to the guest bedroom to change. Amber lounges around, looking at Sydney's artwork that adorned the walls. In a moment of mercy, she pulls down the art that depicted their family with Zoe included, and shoves it behind a few law books. She sits on the sofa, then hears someone walking closely.

"Oh, hey Amber." Her normally boisterous tone, today – a soft spoken tone of voice. She awkwardly sits next to her. They never really repaired their relationship, with That Incident in her office. But Julia envied Amber's free spirit, and Amber envied Julia's gumption. Amber leans over to her a little, and Julia accepts, softly hugging her niece from behind. Amber grabs her aunt's arms softly, then hugs her tightly, softly whispering, "I love you, Aunt Julia."

"Me too… sweetie, me too. I love you so much."

Sarah walks in to see her sister and daughter comforting each other, with Amber softly humming a song that she remembered Seth singing to her to drown out the neighbour's fighting when they still lived in the ratty apartment in Fresno.


End file.
